Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to animal feeders, and more particularly to wet/dry feeders for swine production.
Description of Related Art
There is an increasing demand for efficiency in swine production. Desirably, the hogs are supplied with food so that they eat as much and as quickly as possible so as to reach the required weight and be shipped to market within the shortest possible time. To this end it is desirable to supply the pigs with feed in whatever condition they desire so they take as much as they can without in any way being inhibited from eating further.
In recent years there have been products on the market for providing feed to pigs in both a dry condition and a wet condition. U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,266 discloses such a feeder unit that uses a trough and a shelf positioned above the trough with a water supply duct beneath the shelf for directing water through valves actuated by the hog. A hopper positioned above the shelf directs material continuously onto the shelf. The hog can thus either eat the feed in dry condition directly from the shelf or can brush the feed into the trough for mixing with water and eating in a wet condition. Using wet/dry feeders to feed hogs a wet feed mixture is a proven, viable solution to get increased growth production.
However, currently available wet/dry feeders restrict the full potential of the proven wet/dry feeding concept. Typically, these feeders have only a single adjustment capable of minimal height adjustment and they cannot be adjusted with feed inside. Additionally, these feeders have a single feed mixture in a common trough space.